Noé “Noah” Selvaggio

Noé Selvaggio is the novel’s protagonist. He is Jewish and was born in Nice, France. When he was four years old, he and his sister and father fled to America to escape the invading Nazis. After arriving in America, he adopted the name Noah. During the novel’s main narrative, he is 79 years old, about to turn 80. He worked as a chemist throughout his adult life, and he only recently retired. His wife, Joan, is deceased, so he lives alone in his apartment in New York City, in the borough of Manhattan. After planning a trip to visit Nice for his eightieth birthday, he learns that he has an 11-year-old grandnephew named Michael. Because Michael’s mother is in jail and his father recently died, he will be turned over to the foster care system unless Noah agrees to take care of him for a...